How does a printer print to the edge?

Following on from the blog with the table of different paper sizes that are available, have you ever wondered how a printer can print to the edge of a piece of paper? The paper must need to be held or "gripped" from somewhere by the printing machine regardless of whether it is offset or digital, so how can the ink cover the whole page? The answer is that a printer will use one of the oversize paper types listed below. This allows the printer to print to an area larger than that final printed job and then cut it down to the correct size to give the desired look.

Name	mm × mm	in × in
DL	110 × 220	4.3 × 8.7
F4	210 × 330	8.3 × 13.0
RA0	860 × 1220	33.9 × 48.0
RA1	610 × 860	24.0 × 33.9
RA2	430 × 610	16.9 × 24.0
RA3	305 × 430	12.0 × 16.9
RA4	215 × 305	8.5 × 12.0
SRA0	900 × 1280	35.4 × 50.4
SRA1	640 × 900	25.2 × 35.4
SRA2	450 × 640	17.7 × 25.2
SRA3	320 × 450	12.6 × 17.7
SRA4	225 × 320	8.9 × 12.6
A3+	329 × 483	12.9 × 19.0

Origins of Printing

Have you ever wondered how printing has evolved. We found a great video on YouTube showing the original printing methods used by the early printers well before the days of offset printing, computers, desktop publishing, film, CTP and even digital printing. Movable type was originally developed in China as shown during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. This later advanced into Letterpress as shown in the video.

Stationery

Don't forget, as well as being the nominated printer for hotels and restaurants all over the UK and some in Europe as well, we are able to provide a next day service on a catalogue of over 20,000 Stationery items anywhere in London. Your items will be delivered daily using our own fleet of vans.

Just ask for one of our new 2008 Stationery catalogues and we'll be happy to bring everything you need straight to your office.

Paper Sizes

We thought it would be useful to have a paper size chart to give you an easy reference to the different standard sizes of paper that are often talked about. It is always handy to be able to tell your printer what paper size you would like your digitally or litho job to be produced on as well as being a guide for Envelopes (C Series).

ISO paper sizes (plus rounded inch values)

Format	A series		B series		C series
Size	mm × mm	in × in	mm × mm	in × in	mm × mm	in × in
0	841 × 1189	33.1 × 46.8	1000 × 1414	39.4 × 55.7	917 × 1297	36.1 × 51.1
1	594 × 841	23.4 × 33.1	707 × 1000	27.8 × 39.4	648 × 917	25.5 × 36.1
2	420 × 594	16.5 × 23.4	500 × 707	19.7 × 27.8	458 × 648	18.0 × 25.5
3	297 × 420	11.7 × 16.5	353 × 500	13.9 × 19.7	324 × 458	12.8 × 18.0
4	210 × 297	8.3 × 11.7	250 × 353	9.8 × 13.9	229 × 324	9.0 × 12.8
5	148 × 210	5.8 × 8.3	176 × 250	6.9 × 9.8	162 × 229	6.4 × 9.0
6	105 × 148	4.1 × 5.8	125 × 176	4.9 × 6.9	114 × 162	4.5 × 6.4
7	74 × 105	2.9 × 4.1	88 × 125	3.5 × 4.9	81 × 114	3.2 × 4.5
8	52 × 74	2.0 × 2.9	62 × 88	2.4 × 3.5	57 × 81	2.2 × 3.2
9	37 × 52	1.5 × 2.0	44 × 62	1.7 × 2.4	40 × 57	1.6 × 2.2
10	26 × 37	1.0 × 1.5	31 × 44	1.2 × 1.7	28 × 40	1.1 × 1.6